By Alka Subramanian | Project Leader
Father’s day is June 19. Celebrate fathers everywhere by giving a gift of free and structured play to a child growing up in extraordinarily difficult circumstances in Zambia. Your donation will improve the physical and mental health of orphans and vulnerable children through their participation in educational games and activities.
About “Safe Park”: The goal of this program is to create a safe and happy environment for children to play and learn and the program is open and free to all children in the community. Games and educational activities keep the children engaged, happy, and off the streets for a few hours each week. Homework help is provided. In addition, while the children are engaged in activities, qualified health care professionals observe them for any signs of trauma, grief, and distress and counsel the family as needed. In cases of domestic violence and abuse the child is referred to the appropriate agency for further support.
Location and Need: This program is located in Matero – one of the largest and poorest compounds in Lusaka Zambia. This community is characterized with a high rate of unemployment and a high incidence of HIV, AIDS (prevalence rate of 12% among adults aged 15-49), and malaria. Most residents are poor and live on less than $2 per day. This difficult environment impacts the health of children in a number of ways. Further, many children are orphans (they have lost one or both parents to AIDS), many are living with HIV, and most are living with extended family members who are struggling to take care of the family. The children lack a stable environment as they may be passed on from one relative to another, have poor nutrition, lack of schooling, and may suffer from psychological and sexual abuse. As a result, children suffer from anxiety, feelings of abandonment, isolation, poor socialization, alienation, and an inability to adjust to their environment. Older children may find themselves in a position of being caregivers for their sick siblings or parents. Stigma associated with HIV aggravates these issues.
Impact: Safe Park games and activities help children cope with difficult situations at home and have a positive impact on their mental health. These activities bring a sense of structure, safety, and normalcy to the child’s environment. Interaction with other children, both HIV+ and HIV free, reduces stigma associated with the disease. In addition, psycho-social support provided in an environment which facilitates discussions leads to an improvement in all aspects of the child's health (physical, mental, social, emotional and intellectual).
Almost all children who participate regularly show a significant improvement in their overall health. With better health they are able to attend school, and show an improvement in school performance. As the children do better at school they have started bringing in their progress reports for our child health workers.
The impact of “Safe Park” activities has been positive on all children but more on children who have been traumatized and/or abused. In most cases, there has been a reduction in grief and trauma, and the child’s relationship with the family has been positively reinforced. In addition, the children develop a sense of belonging and hope for the future.
At this time, 780 children are enrolled and about 80-85 participate every week.
Thanks for giving the gift of health and well-being to vulnerable children in Zambia.
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